Icon of St. Peter placed before ambo on Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

On the Name of Peter. The Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter in February reminds us that taking on a new name often carries with it a great and profound significance. Yet on the other hand, in Romeo and Juliet, that perennially favorite high-school literary love story, Shakespeare has his Juliet pose the question, “What’s in a name?” - a veiled reference to the House of Montague, in which Romeo lives. She provides the answer to her own question by saying that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Well, what’s in a name, and what a name means and represents, is important. Earlier in his life as a fisher-of-fish, the man known as the keeper of the keys to the kingdom and the first in a long succession of popes was called Simon Peter, brother of Andrew. In a remarkable renaming moment, the first words of Jesus upon meeting Peter were, “You are Simon, son of John; you are to be called Cephas” (Jn 1-42 NJB) - which means Rock.  With a new job as a fisher-of-men comes a new name. The Greek translation was Petros, and Petrus in Latin, hence Peter. 

More on Names. At a certain point early in their monastic formation, monks also may take a new name, symbolizing the putting on of the new man and, with his new name, the monk assumes a new mission in life. Some choose, with their abbot’s permission, to retain their Christian name given at birth and baptism while others are allowed to submit three new names as an option to the abbot for discussion and his approval. Among the former St. Louis monks now at Portsmouth, I was previously John Peter, Fr. Edward was Paul, while Abbot Michael was Michael at birth. During a “period of disillusionment” in which he investigated Islam and found that its simplicity “provided a foundation upon which to rebuild my faith,” Michael became Abdullah Abdur-Rashid (Abdullah, meaning ‘servant of God”; Abdur-Rashid, meaning ‘servant of the wise and righteous guide’.)  He admits that he “became bogged down looking through the 99 attributes or names of God” from which to choose. Many women entering into a marriage take on the family name of the husband, either foregoing their ‘maiden’ name altogether, or hyphenating it to their husband’s, or perhaps even maintaining their own surname.  Times have changed. Titles of positions change, too, and Abbot Michael’s many roles throughout the years reflect this.  After returning to the faith of his youth and upon entering the monastery, he was first known as Brother, then Father, also Headmaster of Priory School, Pastor of St. Anselm’s Parish, Chancellor of Portsmouth Abbey School, Prior Administrator and now Abbot of the abbey we call home. We reported recently on the selection of Mr. Matt Walter to lead Portsmouth Abbey School.  In the short time that I’ve known him, he has gone from Director of Development and Alumni Affairs, to Acting Head of School, to Head of School. 

General Chapter Preparation Group who visited Portsmouth last week, seen here on
their initial visit to St. Louis in the summer of 2018 at Apple Hill, the monks’ retreat
house in Clarksville MO (l to r: Fr. Francis Straw, Abbess Anna Brennan, Prior Brendan Thomas,
Fr. Cuthbert Elliott, Fr. Chad Boulton)

Naming our Guests. Friends of The Current who have been able to attend our Masses in person or to participate with us via livestream will surely have noticed recently an increase in the numbers of priests concelebrating around the altar or sitting in the choir stalls. Besides an uptick in visits from lay guests searching for a vocation or for a quiet retreat, we hosted a group of religious that has also gone under a recent name change. Formed six years ago within the English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) as the Continuing Formation Commission (CFC), they have been the key players in planning for the General Chapter which is scheduled to finally take place at Buckfast Abbey in southeastern English this coming July. Their new name is the EBC’s General Chapter Preparation Group (GCPG). The lone American among the group is Fr. Cuthbert Elliott (birth name: Edward), our esteemed colleague from St. Louis, a graduate of Priory School Class of ’02 and now serving as the Headmaster of his alma mater. The other commissioners, all based in the U.K., are Abbess Anna Brennan of Stanbrook Abbey, Fr. Francis Straw of Buckfast Abbey, Prior Brendan Thomas of Belmont Abbey, and Fr. Chad Boulton of Ampleforth Abbey. Prior to their stop at Portsmouth for a meeting with our community, they spent time with the monks of St. Anselm’s Abbey in Washington D.C., the third of the three EBC houses in the U.S. Their departure home is scheduled out of Boston’s Logan Airport and they agreed that coming up the coast via car has given them a better sense of the sheer size and diversity of this corner of America, in particular New England, to say nothing of the fast-changing weather systems. 

An additional monk has been in evidence on campus during the visit of the GCPG.  Fr. Benedict Allin (birth name: Richard), 88, a monk of St. Louis and a native of Chicago, participated in the practice of lectio divina with PAS students while here. He also attended the opening night of the student musical, Mamma Mia!; watched the Portsmouth boys’ varsity hockey squad score a win of 8-3 over North Yarmouth Academy from Maine; and observed a Spanish class conducted by Roberto Guerenabarrena. Fr. Benedict has traveled to Chile a total of nine times in order to gain a better understanding of the charism and ministries of the Manquehue Apostolic Movement in their three schools in Santiago and at their retreat estancias, or estates, in the Chilean Patagonia. 

An Update. As this edition of The Current is being readied in its final form to go public in 48 hours, photos being chosen and cropped for illustration purposes, and captions being fact-checked and proofread, those “fast-changing weather systems” to which I alluded earlier have necessitated some changes in travel plans for our guests. Rather than departing for Boston Friday morning, Fr. Cuthbert, Fr. Benedict and their four British companions (named above) are packing up as I write, having decided to get on the road ahead of the expected snowstorm. Their breakfast conversation in the Stillman Dining Hall Thursday morning was almost as fast-changing as the weather, veering from the topic of hotel changes, to plans for meeting with certain people on campus sooner rather than later, or rather than not at all, and somehow it came around (with no encouragement from me, honest) to...names. One monk, noticing our wooden boat, Collette, perched above the heads of the diners at our table, asked why boats and ships are always identified by feminine names. In fact, he said, water-going vessels are always referred to as she. Not coming up with a suitable explanation for that question, the topic switched to the naming of hurricanes and tropical storms. The group, most of us being of a certain age, remember that these weather systems, too, at one time were assigned the names of women, ascending in alphabetical order as the season progressed. Times change, and now the male storms get equal billing in the midst of the maelstrom. Indeed, said another, suddenly we now have himmacanes to keep track of. Or as the old French epigram goes, “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.”